Charleston!

On Sunday, Lily, Nana, Paca and I headed down to Charleston, SC! I had enrolled in a class at MUSC in Charleston and didn't want to leave my Lily pie for as long as I would have had to (5 days!), not to mention that I'm still her main source of nutrition. So, Lily's Nana and Paca were gracious enough to take the time to come down with us and keep the Pie while I was in class each day and we are so grateful to them for doing so!

We left early Sunday afternoon and had a pretty uneventful trip down there. We stopped at Sonic (yum!) in Manning, SC for both us and Lily to have lunch and to get a little break from the car. It was a beautiful day, about 65 degrees outside, so we had a great picnic lunch outside, enjoying the sunshine. We got to our hotel at about 5:45 and spent the night relaxing after our long drive down. Lily did great on the drive, no fussing at all, but she was ready to get out of the car and get some playtime on the floor. Before bedtime, she got to have her bath in her new inflatable duck tub, in the big hotel bathroom tub. She loves that tub - it quacks when you squeeze the beak and she loves to dance to the quacking! Here are a few pictures of our first night in Charleston:

Checking out the baby in the mirror - she was so much fun!

Loving her ducky bath with Nana

On Monday, I headed to class early and Lily got to hang out with Nana and Paca all day. I think it was mostly a hang out day for them as well, until they picked me up from class. We went to dinner at the Crab Shack that night and I had my favorite Charleston specialty - she-crab soup! I absolutely love this dish and I swear, it's always the best in Charleston. As usual, Lily chatted and played all doing dinner and won over pretty much every person in the restaurant. I think she said hi to everyone! Here are a couple of pictures from our yummy dinner:

Off to dinner - with a bow and no headband!

Always bouncing - which means blurry pictures!

Tuesday was another full class day for me, but Nana, Paca and Lily got to do some shopping! After they picked me up, we headed over to Battery Park to do a little walking around and picture taking, as well as check out the houses. The houses in Charleston, especially those in Battery Park, are my absolute favorites and I was able to get some great pictures that day. It was pretty chilly though, and windy, so we didn't stay out too long. We headed back to the hotel and decided to pick up dinner again that night - yummy wings from Wild Wing Cafe. Check out our Tuesday pictures:

All bundled up for our walk in Battery Park

On Wednesday I had only a half day of class, so we used the rest of the afternoon to visit some more of Charleston. First, we headed to the South Carolina Aquarium. For those of you who've never been, it's located right on the harbor and offers a beautiful view of the bridge, battleship and a long distance view of Fort Sumter. The aquarium itself is very nice and has some great exhibits, including a touch tank - which Lily loved! She didn't actually get to touch or hold anything (since every single thing she picks up goes into her mouth), but she did get an up close view of several sea creatures and got to check out what we held and touched. After the aquarium, we headed to a waterfront restaurant, Fleet Landing, to have another wonderful meal. I highly recommend this restaurant - the food was great, as was the service, and you couldn't ask for a better view. One of the other great things about this restaurant, is that they participate in the Sustainable Seafood initiative in Charleston. We got some great pictures that day:

Excited about the aquarium!

Alabaster the Albino Alligator

Checking out the sea urchin Paca was holding

She got to check out a sea star up close and personal - and immediately tried to pick up the bowl!

Nana touching the stingray

Lily loved the big tanks of fish

The biggest catfish I have ever seen

Too much excitement!

Lily checking out the dive show in the Great Ocean Tank

Trying to get into Nana's purse

 

Thursday morning, we packed up all of our stuff and headed out of Charleston as soon as Lily was done with her morning nap. She did great again on the drive back, although she got really fussy about 30 miles from home. When we stopped to give her a break, we noticed that she was running a fever - but after some Tylenol and leg-stretching time, she was good to get back in the car and make the last few miles to the house. We got to the house and unloaded all our stuff and gave goodbye hugs and kisses to Nana and Paca. We also gave them lots of thanks for going with us on our trip! Lily and I had a little bit of playtime before daddy got home that evening. When he got there, he headed straight for Lily - and she had eyes only for him: